{"id":223123,"date":"2026-04-08T08:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T08:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/223123\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T08:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T08:39:12","slug":"charlie-crist-aligned-committee-raises-nearly-another-500k-surpasses-1-2m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/223123\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlie Crist-aligned committee raises nearly another $500K, surpasses $1.2M"},"content":{"rendered":"

The political committee supporting Charlie Crist should he run for St. Petersburg Mayor, St. Pete Shines, raised more than $475,000 in the first quarter of 2026, bringing the committee\u2019s total collections to more than $1.2 million.<\/p>\n

Crist, who previously served as both Governor and the U.S. Representative for Florida\u2019s 13th Congressional District, has not officially entered the race for Mayor. But when he does, he\u2019ll be a leading contender.<\/p>\n

Of the funds raised, Crist maintains $1.1 million on hand. The committee spent a little less than $45,000 in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe growing coalition of diverse donors to the committee reflects just how strongly people believe in our vision for a brighter future for St. Petersburg,\u201d St. Pete Shines Chair Michelle Todd Schorsch said. \u201cWe are incredibly grateful to all of those who have supported our efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notable donors include former U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos; former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink; independent state Sen. Jason Pizzo; former lawmakers Nancy Argenziano, Ben Diamond\u00a0and John McKay; Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil; Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano; former Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz; former First Lady of St. Petersburg Joyce Baker; former Pinellas GOP Chair Paul Bedinghaus and Commissioner Jay Beyrouti; Madeira Beach City Commissioner Housh Ghovaee; and former St. Pete City Council member Jim Kennedy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Several prominent Florida lobbyists also contributed, including Ballard Partners, Melissa Kuipers Blake, Todd Josko, Jonathan Kilman, Gene McGee, Christian Minor, McGuireWoods, Jared Rosenstein, Elnatan Rudolph, Stephanie Smith, Amanda Stewart\u00a0and Eileen Stuart.<\/p>\n

The top donation came from Seminole Gaming, which cut a check for $50,000.<\/p>\n

The report comes the same week St. Pete Shines launched a pro-Crist advertisement<\/a> to coincide with the Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 Opening Day. The ad featured Crist celebrating St. Pete\u2019s rich baseball history. It hinted at leadership change in the city, pointing to important decisions still to be made, but otherwise served as an opportunity to reintroduce Crist to the people of St. Pete.<\/p>\n

St. Pete Shines has raised more than incumbent Mayor Ken Welch\u2019s combined total between two political committees supporting him. A third<\/a>, established to replace The Pelican Political Action Committee after a consultant allegedly stole more than $200,000 from it, has not yet reported fundraising for the first quarter. The Pelican Political Action Committee had been established to replace Welch\u2019s first committee, The Pelican PAC, after the state revoked it for consistently failing to file certain required documents.<\/p>\n

Further, Crist\u2019s fundraising in the first quarter is more than Welch raised throughout all of 2025.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Campaign finance reports, which will outline Welch\u2019s most recent earnings, are due April 10. Crist reported his fundraising activity ahead of that deadline. As of the end of 2025, he had just $32,000 on hand.<\/p>\n

Recent polling<\/a> found Crist leading all mayoral candidates, including Welch, with 23% support compared to just 19% for Welch. All other candidates, including St. Pete City Council member Brandi Gabbard, former St. Pete Fire Chief Jim Large, former Shore Acres Neighborhood Association President Kevin Batdorf and perennial candidate Maria Scruggs, were in single digits.<\/p>\n

Importantly though, 42% of respondents remained undecided. That means access to resources will be critical in reaching undecided voters.<\/p>\n

Welch\u2019s finance reports will offer key insight into whether he\u2019ll be able to be competitive amid the backdrop of Crist\u2019s sizable war chest. Meanwhile, finance reports for other candidates could indicate whether anyone might emerge as a possible contender.<\/p>\n

As of Wednesday morning, only the pro-Crist committee had disclosed first quarter financial activity.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Ed. Note: Michelle Todd Schorsch is the Chair of St. Pete Shines, a political committee expected to back Crist for St. Petersburg Mayor. Todd Schorsch is married to\u00a0Peter Schorsch, the publisher of Florida Politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The political committee supporting Charlie Crist should he run for St. Petersburg Mayor, St. Pete Shines, raised more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[101000,101001,3174,3300,3347,101002,22944,101003,101004,101005,101006,59898,101007,101008,71439,101009,101010,101011,2346,72295,3175,101012,101013,37377,101014,101015,202,204,3304,203,37378,199,201,200,93181,101016,40845],"class_list":{"0":"post-223123","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-alex-sink","9":"tag-amanda-stewart","10":"tag-ben-diamond","11":"tag-brandi-gabbard","12":"tag-charlie-crist","13":"tag-christian-minor","14":"tag-eileen-stuart","15":"tag-elnatan-rudolph","16":"tag-gene-mcgee","17":"tag-housh-ghovaee","18":"tag-jared-rosenstein","19":"tag-jason-pizzo","20":"tag-jay-beyrouti","21":"tag-jim-kennedy","22":"tag-jim-large","23":"tag-john-mckay","24":"tag-jonathan-kilman","25":"tag-joyce-baker","26":"tag-ken-welch","27":"tag-kevin-batdorf","28":"tag-maria-scruggs","29":"tag-mcguirewoods","30":"tag-melissa-kuipers-blake","31":"tag-michelle-todd-schorsch","32":"tag-mike-fasano","33":"tag-nancy-argenziano","34":"tag-st-pete","35":"tag-st-pete-headlines","36":"tag-st-pete-mayoral-race","37":"tag-st-pete-news","38":"tag-st-pete-shines","39":"tag-st-petersburg","40":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","41":"tag-st-petersburg-news","42":"tag-stephanie-smith","43":"tag-todd-josko","44":"tag-walt-mcneil"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}